


The Blatant Disarray

by ChrisLeon



Series: The Big Fix [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Coming Out, Discussions of sexuality, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 21:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20015305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrisLeon/pseuds/ChrisLeon
Summary: Steve and Robin hanging out post-season 3. A companion piece to Dying to Live, won't make much sense without that one.





	The Blatant Disarray

**Author's Note:**

> Title from The Shortest Straw. Not because it really fits, I just like patterns.

“I still can’t believe it.”

“I know.”

“Monsters!”

“I know.”

Robin took another hit before passing the joint back to Steve. “What do we do now?”

He took a deep inhale, holding the smoke in his lungs for a handful of seconds before letting it out. “What do you mean?” He asked, confused.

“Well, it’s not like we can go back to work. Because, you know, the mall  _ burned down _ .” She dissolved into giggles and he felt himself laughing along with her. 

“Do you,” he took another hit, “Do you think we can put this on our resumes? Like, special skills: time management, organization, breaking into secret Soviet bases hidden below the fucking mall.” 

They both collapsed into laughter again, Robin falling back to lay on the ground. “Harrington, you’re terrible at time management. No one would ever believe that.”

“Okay, okay, but could I leave the part about the bases? Do you think?”

“Yeah,” She took the joint from him and took a long inhale before finishing, “Yeah, definitely leave that. Really sets you apart.”

“Good. Good, y’know? I gotta get ahead.” He glanced down at her and when their eyes met, they both burst into laughter again.

* * *

Despite all the tragedy surrounding the closing of the mall, many small business owners were happy to see it gone. The diner in downtown Hawkins, which had lost many customers to the mall’s food court, had become, once again, the most popular spot for parents to bring their kids or for friends to go out to eat.

Steve walked through the entrance, barely noticing the bell above the door for all the people inside talking and laughing. He scanned the tables, finding Robin seated by herself and walked over to join her. 

“You didn’t wait to order?” He asked, mock hurt. She shrugged and popped another fry in her mouth. 

“I was hungry.”

He rolled his eyes, but a waitress soon came to their table to hand him a menu, so he let it go.

“So,” Robin said, once the waitress had taken his order and disappeared, “How was it?” She folded her hands in front of her on the table and looked at him expectantly.

“How was what?” He asked, even though he knew exactly what she meant.

“The hospital. You took the kids there this morning, yeah?” She asked, as if he hadn’t been complaining about it to her for days in advance. 

“Yeah, I did.”

“And?” She prodded.

“And nothing. I stayed outside most of the time.”

“Was it weird?”

“Kind of? I guess,” he shrugged, “I didn’t really say anything to him. What was I supposed to say, you know? He asked about his car.”

“His car?”

“Yeah. Asked if I was the one who hit it.”

“Oh, yeah,” She said, clearly remembering it. She had been in the passenger seat, after all. 

“It’s just so weird. I feel bad for the guy, but it’s not like we’re friends. We haven’t had any problems recently, not since he beat the shit out of me, at least, but we still don’t really like each other.”

Robin snorted out a laugh. “It’s not funny,” he said, accusingly.

“It’s a little funny. I know so many people who have never been in a fight, never been beat up. Not once. Yet, it seems to happen to you at least once a year. You’re a statistical outlier. Must be something about your face.” 

“Hey! I have a great face.”

“Oh, yeah? And that’s why so many people can’t resist hitting you? And why all those girls were falling all over you?”

“I was just off my game, alright?”

“Are you back on it now?”

“Right now, I’m taking a little break. From just about everything. I think I’ve earned it. And what about you?” He nudged her under the table. “You had a crush and instead of doing anything about it, you glared at me and my bagel crumbs every day.”

She kicked him back, harder than he had. “It’s not so easy for me, Harrington. I can’t just flirt with every girl I see.”

“I guess,” he sighed, “How about we both just stay single? We relax, find a new job, and try to enjoy what’s left of our summer. Sound like a plan?”

“A boring one.”

“You telling me you don’t want boring? After all that?”

She shrugged. “I guess a little boring wouldn’t be too bad. Definitely safer for you. The less you do, the less likely it is someone else will want to hit you.”

“Why do think someone is gonna wanna hit me?”

“I’m just looking at the evidence. It’s bound to happen again.”

“You’re awful.”

“I’m delightful.”

Just then, the waitress returned with his food and he was able to tuck in and ignore Robin’s teasing.

* * *

They swung back and forth lazily, feet scraping the ground. The old swing set in Robin’s backyard was clearly meant for little kids, but that didn’t stop the two of them from hanging out on it.

“So, where were you yesterday? I tried calling your house to see if you were free and you didn’t answer.

Steve looked at the ground, not wanting to meet her gaze. “I had some errands to run in the morning. I wasn’t home until late afternoon, so if you tried calling before then, I couldn’t have answered.” That wasn’t all he had done the day before, but telling her made his stomach twist, like he was nervous, but he couldn’t for sure say why. 

“Just errands, huh? Then why are you being so weird about it?   
  


“I’m not being weird.”

“Yeah, you are,” she nudged him, causing him to swing off to the side, “What were you doing?”

“I, uhm” he forced down the nervous feeling in his chest, still unable to explain it, “I ran into Billy on my way back. Well, actually he stopped his car in the middle of the street to annoy me. But then we got to talking and we spent the evening hanging out.”

He risked a glance up to meet her eyes, and she was staring at him in disbelief. 

“Billy?”

“Yeah.”

“As in, Billy Hargrove?”

He nodded.

“As in, was possessed by then torn apart by a giant monster and then hospitalized for weeks Billy Hargrove?”

“He’s the only Billy I know.”

“He’s up and around? Already?”

“Apparently. I asked him if he was supposed to be driving, but he didn’t seem to care.”

“Huh,” She kicked her feet, swinging back and forth for a few seconds. “And how’s he doing?”

Steve shrugged, “About as good as you’d expect, I guess. He had trouble moving, which isn’t surprising, I guess, considering. He’s, uhm, he feels bad about it. Y’know, guilty, about everything.” He felt weird telling her, like he was betraying whatever trust Billy had put in him, but it’s not like he’d sworn secrecy. And he was better friends with Robin than he was with Billy.

“God, that’s gotta be tough.”

“Yeah,” He said, nodding. 

“How do you deal with that? Can you deal with that?”

Steve shrugged helplessly, “I don’t know. I tried telling him it wasn’t his fault, but I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“God, this town is so weird. Imagine if we all just had normal teenage problems?” He laughed as she continued, “Some other people, just like us, are sitting somewhere complaining about their parents, or drama with their friends, or maybe they got detention,” she said, lowering her voice to make it sound more serious, “And we’re here, discussing our classmate who was possessed by a monster that a bunch of Russians let in by punching a whole in the wall between dimensions.”

“Well,” he said, chuckling, “I don’t think anyone’s getting detention now. It’s July.”

She tugged on the chain attached to his swing, causing him to jerk while he continued laughing.

“You know what I mean, Steve.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. This place is weird as hell.”

“It is. So, do you think you’re gonna hang out again?”

“Hm?”

“You and Billy. Do you think the two of you are gonna hang out again?”

He shrugged, “Maybe. I told him we could, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t happen. It’s not like we were friends before.”

“Neither were we. And now look at us,” She pulled on his chain, dragging him closer so she could lay her head on his shoulder.

“True. And what do all your friends think about that?”

She let out a loud laugh. “They mostly think we’re sleeping together.”

“Really?” She nodded. “And did you tell them I’m not your type?”

“No,” She said, still laughing.

“No?”

“Gotta keep ‘em guessing.”

“So they don’t know? Your friends, that is. They don’t know that you’re, y’know.”

She looked down. “Most of them don’t. Some do, a few. But it’s, it’s not easy to tell people.”

“Hey,” he said gently, “I’m glad you told me.”

She looked up at him, smiling. “If someone had told me, just a couple of months ago, that I’d be hanging out with Steve Harrington and that he’d know my biggest secret  _ and  _ that he’d be cool with it,”

“You wouldn’t have believed them?’

“I think I would have hit them.”

He laughed, “It’s crazy, isn’t it? How things can turn out so differently from what you expect? Like, we all have this vision of what our life is going to be and then,” he threw up his hands, at a loss for words.

“And then monsters.

“Yeah. And then monsters.”

* * *

Steve adjusted his grip on the receiver as the phone rang. He was nervous, he knew he’d fucked up, but if he could just explain-

“Hello?” An unfamiliar voice answered.

“Hi, uh, is Robin there? It’s Steve Harrington.”

“Just a second.” There was some noise on the other end of the line before he heard,

“You better have a good explanation, Harrington.”

“I’m sorry. I do, if you just-” She cut him off.

“Because I’m pretty sure we’d made plans last week to hang out last night and then you never came to pick me up.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. But something came up yesterday afternoon and I didn’t realize how long it would take.”

“What was it?”

“Hm?”

“What came up?”

“Oh. It was, uh, Billy, actually.”

“Billy?”

“Yeah.”

“Billy Hargrove?”

He had a sense of deja vu. “Yeah, Billy Hargrove. He called and he, I don’t know, he just sounded really out of it. Like, he was scared, scared and really desperate to get out of his house.”

She lowered her voice, “Is anything going on with the, you know?”

“No, everything’s fine. I just, I don’t think he’s doing that well. He really wanted to get out so we got food and sat outside for a while until he calmed down enough to go home.” He struggled for words, trying to make her understand while not giving away too much of Billy’s vulnerability. He didn’t think the other boy would appreciate it if he went around sharing everything they talked about. 

Robin was silent for a minute before he heard her sigh. 

“Okay, fine. I’ll allow it, just this once, for extenuating circumstances. But if you ever bail on me again, without so much as a phone call, I’ll kick your ass, Harrington.”

He laughed, relieved, “Got it. And again, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

* * *

The were both reclined on Steve’s couch. Robin had a bag of chips resting on her chest. Steve had brought the bag out for them to share, but it didn’t look like he’d be getting any anytime soon.

“I can’t believe,” she said, around a mouth a chips, “That you failed an English test because you thought  _ The Grapes of Wrath _ was about wine makers.”

“I never read the book, alright?. And no more reminiscing about high school. I already know I’m stupid, we don’t have to keep bringing it up.”

“Hey,” She threw a chip at him, “You’re not stupid,” he snorted in disbelief, “I’m serious! You’re,” she waved a hand around, looking for the right words, “practically smart. Like, you’re good at doing stuff. You don’t have to be book smart.”

“Thanks, I think?”

“But,” she continued, “That doesn’t mean you should never read books.”

“I’ve read books.” She raised her eyebrows at him, disbelieving. “I have,” he insisted. “I was just talking about books with Billy when he was here the other day. He likes to read, maybe I’ll ask for some recommendations. Prove to you that I can read.”

“I never said that you  _ couldn’t _ read, just that you choose not to.” She munched on a chip. “And you seem to be spending a lot of time with Billy. I thought you guys weren’t friends?”

“Well, I guess we are now.”

“Finally getting tired of hanging out with children?”

He reached over to steal the bag of chips, ignoring her protests. “You need to come up with some new insults, you’re just using the same ones over again.”

“Good thing you never stop giving me things to make fun of you for.” She sat up so she could grab the bag back from him. “But seriously, you and Billy are pretty close now. You’re always hanging out. You bring him up all the time.”

“No I don’t.”

“You just did!”

“That’s one time!”

“You do it a lot. And it’s fine, I don’t care. You’re allowed to have other friends and god knows, he probably needs it.”

“Yeah, I think he does.”

They lapsed into silence. Shifting awkwardly on the couch, Steve cleared his throat and spoke again, “You keep making fun of me, like you never failed an assignment.”

She looked up at him, confused at first by the abrupt return to their original topic, but she quickly smiled and answered, “I never did fail anything.”

“Never? I don’t believe you. How’s that even possible?”

“I did all my homework, dingus, that’s how.”

“God, you’re such a nerd.”

“I’m a nerd? Just because I know how to read doesn’t make me a nerd.”

“I know how to read!”

* * *

A few weeks later found Robin and Steve back on the swing set. It was warm out, but the sky was overcast and it was probably going to rain later. Until then, though, they’d stay out there. 

They’d been talking for a while, but the conversation had lapsed and they were sitting in silence. Steve scuffed his toe against the ground and twisted the chain in his grasp. He knew what he wanted to talk about, what he wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure how to bring it up.

A few times, he opened his mouth, about to say something, before chickening out and deciding against it. Finally, staring straight ahead, he spoke up.

“Can I ask you something?” He saw her move out of the corner of his eye, most likely turning to look at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact. “You don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to,” he continued, “I’m just curious, I guess.”

“What is it?”

He took a deep breath, still looking forward. “How did you know that you’re, y’know, that you, uh, like girls?”

He saw her move again, shifting around on her swing and she was silent for a little while.

“I didn’t always know,” She said finally. “I always did, looking back, I can see that, but I didn’t always know what it meant. Like,” she let out a soft laugh, “when I was little, like elementary school, all the other girls would talk about having crushes on boys. And I never felt the same way. I used to pick a random boy in my class and pretend to have a crush on him, just so I had something to talk about with the other girls.”

He finally turned to look at her, she was staring at the ground, wringing her hands as she spoke.

“Girls were just never an option. I think I had crushes on girls when I was little, but I didn’t know that’s what it was. No other girls ever talked about that. 

“I thought it would come with age, caring about boys, but it never did. In middle school, I started really thinking about it, starting noticing how much I thought about girls, how I liked looking at them, thought they were pretty.”

She sighed, “It just kind of clicked, when I finally realized that I liked girls and only girls. Everything just made so much more sense when I acknowledged it and accepted it.”

She looked up at him and he blinked and looked away. His thoughts were swirling. He wasn’t sure what he’d been hoping to get out of hearing her explain it, but he didn’t think he’d gotten whatever it was.

He registered a second too late that she’d said something else.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I asked you why you wanted to know.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but he felt the words catch in his throat. He knew why he’d asked, but he didn’t know if he could say it out loud. 

Robin was still looking at him, waiting for an answer. She’d already shared so much with him, he felt like he owed her. 

“I,” he began, “I think I, that I might,” He sucked in a breath, “I think that maybe, me too. Kind of.” He let out a heavy exhale and forced himself to meet her gaze. She was looking at him, considering, absorbing his words. He hoped she understood. 

She was silent for a while and when she finally spoke, it wasn’t what he’d been expecting.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Billy.”

He laughed and even to his own ears, it sounded hysterical. “Yeah, I have been.” 

“Is this about him?”

He nodded. “I just, we’re together so much, but when he’d not there, I still wish he was. I like spending time with him, and laughing at his stupid jokes, and listening to him talk, and he’s so, stupidly hot,” he let out another laugh, only a little less crazed than the previous one, “And sometimes, sometimes I think I want to kiss him, or I want him to kiss me. And I don’t know what that means,” he finished softly. 

He felt out of breath, like he’d been running. “I’ve never felt like this before, not about a, you know, uhm, a guy. You’re the only person I could come to.”

“I’m glad you did,” She said sincerely. She tugged his hand off the chain of his swing and laced their fingers together. “It’s different for everyone, it’s okay if you’re just figuring it out now.”

“I just don’t know what to do. Sometimes, I think maybe,  _ maybe _ he feels the same way, but how can I know for sure?”

She squeezed his hand, “You can’t. Not unless you make a move first.”

He let out a humorless laugh.

“I know,” She said, “Trust me, I know better than anyone how terrifying it can be and I won’t tell you to do something that could get you hurt,” He felt tears threaten the corners of his eyes and he clenched both hands so tightly he had to be hurting her and the chain of the swing was digging into his other palm. He couldn’t bring himself to loosen them. 

“But,” she continued, “If you have someone you like that much, and if he likes you back,” She shrugged, swinging their joined hands, “I think we’ve all been through enough and I think we all deserve a little happiness.”

He closed his eyes, but it was too late and he could feel the tears spill down his cheeks.

“Thank you, Robin.” He forced out, voice cracking.

“No problem, Steve.”

**Author's Note:**

> For all the things I didn't like about season 3, Robin saved my life and her and Steve's friendship is everything. Definitely plan to write more with her in the future.
> 
> [Come say hi!](http://vgorodye.tumblr.com)


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